Devils & Dust
by Drive all night
Summary: When your back's against the wall you find out pretty quickly those that will stand with you and those that choose to stand by themselves. The Intelligence Unit is still under a microscope so when a CI ends up dead, Ruzek soon learns who has his back. Who in Intelligence is willing to stand by him and who is more interested in covering their own ass.
1. The Spill

**Just a word of warning...This is a Ruzek centric story. Bear in mind before you proceed, I've always been a #Burzek shipper and the whole #Upzek trash has pretty much made me feel ill. Yes, Ruzek had to move on, it was overdue but this current mess is just awful. There is zero chemistry between those two. So if you are a fan of those two together, I'd suggest you stop reading now.**

What's up Boss?" Ruzek barely had the chance to shrug off his jacket and hang in on the back of his chair before Voight was calling him into his office. He took one last mouthful of his coffee, it was still hot as all shit and he burnt his mouth. Cursing at himself he left it on his desk to cool off.

His heart skipped at beat when he found Commander Brennan sitting behind his Boss's desk.

"Take a seat Officer Ruzek." The way she emphasised 'Officer' certainly didn't make him feel any better about things. He racked his brains about what possibly this could be about. Things had been pretty quiet since the whole Antonio thing and he thought that was sorted. At least Voight told him so. He was hoping it might be an UC job; he could do with getting out of his own head for a bit. He always loved the challenge of going undercover.

"Commander." He sat.

"Do you know a Magnus Cole?"

"I do. He's a low level dope dealer I've been trying to flip."

"When was the last time you saw him?"

He paused for a moment and thought about his answer. Something Al had drummed into him, especially when it was a white collar who was asking. "A week ago. It's in the books."

"So you didn't see him last night?" She stared at him hard. "At all, off books perhaps."

"No."

"Because you were where last night?" Brennan waved her hand around. He wasn't sure if this was a trap or not but he quickly made the decision to not try and talk his way out of things, that hadn't worked well for him in the past but he could keep his answers vague until he figured out what was going on.

"At my girlfriend's house."

"All night?"

He nodded.

"And I will need her name to corroborate your story."

"What's this about?" He looked at Voight who just indicated he should answer the question. "What's this about?" Turning back to Brennan he repeated his question.

"Magnus Cole is dead and a witness puts you are the scene."

All the air left his lungs and the room suddenly felt hot and airless. "Then the witness is lying. I swear Boss." He looked at Voight. "I saw him a week ago, he was still unsure, I said I'd give him two weeks to think it over. I haven't even tried to contact him, check my phone. Both phones."

"Okay." Adam was surprised when his Boss held out his hand for his phone.

"What now?"

"I need your girlfriends number." Brennan interrupted them. She didn't need this turning into another Intelligence Unit cover up. She was onto them.

Reluctantly Adam handed it over. "Stay here." She ordered him, he didn't move.

Voight sat down at his desk but said nothing. The room still felt airless despite having one less person in it. "Boss, I swear I wasn't anywhere near Cole."

He held up his hand. "Just stop Ruzek. Don't say another word. You got an FOP Rep?"

"I don't need one."

"You always need one. This is the second time you've had a CI go south. You don't think she's going to bring that up again? I need you to tell me the truth." Ruzek had already had his badge pulled a few years ago. In the end it was cleared up, Platt pulled some strings and he busted his ass ever since and made sure he always filled in his CI paperwork, he was anal about it and always took the ribbing he got with good grace. He wasn't getting caught up in that shit fight again.

"Not one thing I have said since I walked in this room is a lie." He poked his leg angrily. "Not one god damn thing."

Voight had a sinking feeling when he rocked up at the crime scene and Brennan was already there. It was 3am, it was balls freezing cold and the last thing he needed was grief from a White shirt, particularly one he didn't trust or like. They were still digging themselves out of the Dawson sized hole that Antonio had flung them into.

"Voight." She zeroed in on him. "Can't say I enjoy being called out because of your uncontrollable unit again." There was not an ounce of love lost between them, not even a begrudging respect. "Especially not at 3am."

"If you've got something say just spit it out. I'm cold and tired and can't be fucked pussy footing around with you right now."

Brennan's eyes narrowed and she shoved a business card in his chest. "Want to tell me what Officer Ruzek is doing visiting CI's at midnight? Particularly ones who are now lying dead on the kitchen floor. I've checked the on off books. He didn't call it in."

By the time Ruzek got into the office Voight was even more pissed. Not only had he been at a crime scene until six am, he had Brennan waiting for them in his office which just topped off his morning perfectly. He had asked her to let him handle it but there was a snowflakes chance in hell she was going to let him wriggle off the hook and cover up another one of his Unit's fuck ups.

He had a witness downstairs who swears that Ruzek was leaving the house when she arrived, he jumped in the car and left in a hurry and when she got inside she found her boyfriend, although that apparently was a term to use very loosely.

Voight had stood over the body; nothing about what he saw made sense. The victim was beaten to death, his face caved in. Ruzek was a hot head, he could throw a punch but he wasn't violent and this was a violent death. He'd bet his last dime that Ruzek didn't do this, but he had a business card, a witness and an Officer that so far hadn't given his side of the story along with a Commander who was out to bury him one way or the other. She wasn't going to slow down, or look at any other possibility. She was out for Voight's blood and if that meant taking down Ruzek then she'd have no hesitation.

Antonio alluded her grasp and they couldn't pin shit on him for the whole Al debacle so she was moving onto the next in line. One thing was for certain, at some point she'd get her man.

Ruzek was bouncing his leg up and down nervously. "What's she doing?"

"What do you think she's doing?" Voight snapped. "Checking your story. You wanna hope it stacks up."

"I don't have to hope for anything. I told you the truth. However many times you wanna ask the story stays the same."

"Hey." Voight threw his pen across the desk. "I hardly think you are in any position to be a smart ass right now. Do you?"

Brennan reappeared and she looked pissed and held out her hand. "Officer Ruzek. I need your badge and gun. You are relieved of your duties until further notice."

"What? Why?"

"Officer Ruzek, your badge." Reluctantly Adam handed them over. "You can go home. I will call you when you are needed at the Ivory Tower. Don't leave town. Don't talk to anyone." She indicated with her head that he was dismissed. "And I mean anyone, you hear me?"

Snatching his jacket from his desk he didn't even stop to acknowledge his team. They were all at their desks wondering what the hell was going on. Upton got up and followed him. "Adam. What's going on?" she caught up with him in the locker room where he was grabbing his bag.

"You tell me?" he snarled as he slammed his locker door.

"What's going on?"

When he didn't answer Hayley stood in front of the doorway, blocking his exit. He glared at her with an icy look that she'd never seen before until she took a step to the side and left without another word.


	2. A Deep Hole

"Detective Upton. How are you?" Commander Brennan caught her off guard in the locker room. "Got a minute?"

"Sure." She closed her locker door after holstered her weapon.

"How's it going here?"

"Good, great."

"I hear good reports. You are making a name for yourself, a good name despite being in this unit."

"It's a good unit." She was warned about this Unit, it's reputation was well known but she also knew she had the backbone to stand up to the bad behaviour and make it a better, less controversial unit. There was no way this place was taking her down with them. It was a stepping stone, she needed more experience and to get away from people who wanted her to fail. One thing this unit didn't do was set you up to fail.

"Yes, it gets the job done. That's impressive and my sources inform me a big part of that is you. Especially after the whole Lindsay debacle, the unit needed a good strong honest female, a moral compass. You are going places." Lindsay troubles were also well known, very well known and not getting involved in personal dramas was the smart thing to do.

While Hayley was wary, the commander always had an agenda it was nice to be recognised for her work. She worked hard and didn't always get the rewards. The team had the tendency to not single any one person out for good work, it was a team effort and for the most part she was fine with that but every now and then a pat on the back was good for the soul and the ego. Not to mention it would look good on her resume to get some recognition for her efforts.

"Thank you."

"You are due some furlough, perhaps you should take it sometime soon. You know the policy of letting it build up?"

"One day, it's been a bit hectic here lately."

"Yes, it certainly has. I think it would be good for you, it's good for everyone to take a break, dealing with the worst of the worst tends to wear you down and things sneak up on you."

"Nah I'm good, thanks for the advice though. Anyway, I've got to get to work."

"Of course, just one question. I was surprised not to see you at the crime scene last night?"

"What crime scene?"

"Oh some drug deal gone bad. Must have been nice to have the night off though?"

Despite the hairs standing up on the back of her neck she managed to keep her voice even.

"Bath and bed early. Read a book, washed my hair."

"Alone?"

"Yes."

"Your boyfriend busy?"

"Don't have a boyfriend." She shrugged although her heart did beat a little faster. "Just me and a couple of pot plants. Too busy for anything else, this job is a relationship killer."

"Don't I know it?" Brennan smiled sweetly. Hayley nodded and headed towards the door. "One more question? Officer Ruzek, he's got a bit of a temper? Been known to rough up some suspects."

"No more than any of us. Gets the job done."

"At home?"

"Wouldn't know. Perhaps ask Burgess, she was engaged to him once."

"Really?" Brennan cocked an eyebrow. Of course she knew that, she knew everything. "Anyway, thanks again Detective Upton. I look forward to working a little closer with you."

Hayley just nodded. It was a strange conversation and she felt a little uncomfortable and took a second to shake it off before she hit the bullpen. It surprised her to see Adam in Voight's office and the fact the door was shut didn't bode well, although there was no yelling so that had to be a good thing.

Halstead looked at her quizzically when Brennan followed her back into the bullpen and headed straight for Voight's office again. She just shrugged it off and hoped like hell she kept her face neutral. She had no idea what was going on. Inside her guts were churning, she knew she'd just been played and had the feeling the shit was about to hit the fan.

A minute later Adam came out, grabbed his jacket and headed straight for the locker room. He did not even look at her or anyone for that matter. She saw Kim make a move to follow him so she leapt up and beat her to it and she felt everyone's eyes on her as she chased after him.

By the time she came back out of the locker room after trying to talk to Adam, Brennan was gone and Voight was standing at the whiteboard, clearly pissed off. "Magnus Cole. Ruzek's CI was brutally murdered in the early hours of this morning. A witness puts Ruzek at the scene at the time of the murder although I, for one don't believe it. We need to find the person responsible, today."

"Boss." Atwater started.

Voight held up his hand. "Kev, let's just find the person responsible and the rest will fall into place."

"Where's Ruzek?" Kim piped up.

"Suspended." Voight angrily slapped his photo up on the board. "He's counting on us, his friends to find the truth." Hayley didn't miss the very pointed stare, Voight was angry. "I will say this once. Do not contact Ruzek at all, not even a text message. Our every move is being watched."

"Sarge…" she stood up. "…I need to talk to you."

"You've done enough." He turned back to the rest of them and doled out some orders. Leaving Hayley on desk duty, which surprised everyone. Something was going on that they weren't privy too and they had learnt it was wise not to ask.

Jumping up to grab a coffee she wasn't surprised when Halstead followed her and closed the door. "What's going on Hayley?"

"Nothing for you to worry about."

"Really. Ruz is suspended, Voight's acting weird, you are on desk duty. Something is going on."

"Brennan cornered me and asked me about his temper. If he'd ever lost it at a suspect. I couldn't lie."

"Right." Halstead turned to leave. "Why'd she ask you?"

Hayley had to think quick. "You know, that incident a year ago when he punched that guy for making a sleazy comment. She asked about that again."

Halstead's hands were on his hips. "And what did you say?"

"That it was a one off and the guy came at him first, same thing I told them last year."

"So why is he suspended?"

"I don't know Jay." Hayley finally snapped. She pinched the bridge of her nose as she felt the pressure build up behind her eyes. This was all going to hell in a hand basket.

As soon as everyone left the bullpen she pulled out her phone, ignoring Voight's warning and called Adam, it was off and went straight to voice mail. _'Adam, call me back please.'_ It was a relief that they had gone out because it was tense in there. No one was talking, not to her anyway.

Even when they came back they spoke with Voight and left her out of it. Burgess and Atwater clammed up when she walked into the break room for a coffee refill. "Any progress?"

"Nope." Kevin couldn't have said more with one word if he tried.

"Have you heard from Ruz?"

"Nope. Not allowed to contact him remember?" Kevin grabbed his coffee and walked out, Kim stopped for a second and looked like she was about to say something but just smiled awkwardly.

She texted him _, 'Adam please just let me explain, she cornered me. Please let me know you are okay.'_

The silence was deafening. She needed to talk to Voight and almost dialled Brennan's number but thought better of it. Until she had talked to Voight she needed to keep her powder dry. She'd been played, and that stung.

The gate ground open and Voight appeared at the top of the stairs. He ripped off his jacket on the way past into his office and slammed the door. Taking a deep breath Hayley knocked on the glass and waited for the okay to come in. "What?" Her sergeant reefed opened the door.

"Boss, I need to talk to you." She closed the door behind her, despite the bullpen being empty.

"You got something to say? Now?"

"I stuffed up. Brennan came at me, blindsided me. I know she's trying to find a reason to shut down this unit and that's what I thought it was about. I had no idea." Trying to dig your way out of hole when you had no idea how big or deep it was wasn't easy. She had to figure it out on the fly and right now she wasn't sure it was working.

"You had no idea so chose to lie?"

"I didn't lie."

"So you didn't tell Brennan that you were home alone all night last night, or that you didn't have a boyfriend?"

"No, I did. I don't have a boyfriend. I thought…"

"No you didn't think, you tried to protect yourself even though you had no idea from what. You first right?" Voight didn't hold back. "I imagine Ruzek is grateful for that while he sits at home contemplating what he'll do if he gets tossed from CPD? Or perhaps jail might give him time to reflect, but at least he can sleep at night knowing he's not a liar, small comfort that would be though, hey?"

"That's not fair."

"Nope, it's not fair. All you had to do was tell the truth. Do you realise the hole you've dug for yourself, for Ruzek and for this Unit? You know the scrutiny this Unit is under? You think we need this."

"I'm sorry."

"I told you, all of you not to contact him and what did you do?"

"I had to try and explain what happened."

"Yes and Brennan has already come down on my ass asking why you tried to contact him, perhaps to get your stories straight? Huh? I gave you an order and you barely waited half a day before you ignored it and just made this whole fucking thing ten times worse."

"How? Is she tapping my phone?"

"No, she's got Ruzek's phone, she seized it as part of the IA investigation."

Hayley had no idea and now Brennan had not only her phone calls but also all the text messages they'd sent? She'd asked him to delete them, hopefully he had. This was a nightmare. "I'm sorry."

"Yep." Voight swung around in his chair, turning his back on his Detective. "I am starting to see why you only last a year or two in one spot. You can go home, you are not needed for this."

"Boss." For the second time today she was blindsided. When would she ever learn? "I can help?"

"I said you can go. You've done enough." Voight eased himself back around and glared at Upton as she sat stone like in the chair.

"I can help. I know Ruzek didn't do this."

"So do I."

"Please let me help. You let Antonio stay when his daughter was kidnapped."

"And how well did that go for us? Huh?" Voight wasn't budging. "The best thing you can do is go home, stay out of it and let us clean up the mess you two have made."

Stopping by his locker for a moment she contemplated what had gone wrong. Where she had taken a wrong turn? She chastised herself for being weak; she never should have gotten that drink with him. He was just being kind that night and she was drunk and made the first move. Sure he hesitated once, asked her if she was sure and she was sure. A one-night stand would be fine, they were adults, and they could handle it. It was going back for more that was her downfall.


	3. Leave

**Disclaimer: This is a** ** _FICTIONAL_** **story. I.e….It's not real, its' just a story.**

"Adam open up." She banged on his door. "Come on Adam I know you are in there." He had offered her a key to his place and she had turned it down. Actually she had laughed at him now she wished she'd taken it. "We need to talk."

"He's not home." A neighbour finally got sick of the banging and yelling. "So stop ya racket."

"When did he leave? Where did he go?"

"I don't know, I'm not his keeper." The elderly woman snarled at her and slammed her door.

Hayley pulled out her phone and tried to call him again, straight to voicemail. Now that she was no longer part of this case what did it matter if she talked to him or not? "For fuck's sake Adam stop being a child." She snapped to no one in particular. He hadn't returned one call or text all day. She had no idea where he was or what he was doing. He was a hothead and that worried her.

Frantically she called the bar they tended to hang out in, they couldn't go to Molly's obviously because she didn't want to be seen there with him. He wasn't there and they hadn't seen him all day. There was no one else to call. She couldn't call the team; Voight had made that very clear. She wasn't quite sure how serious Voight was about that and she was going to go talk to him tomorrow. Hopefully he'd had time to think a little more rationally and realise that she was a good detective and could help with this case. She could keep her personal feelings out of it.

The only other place she could think of was his Dad's place and she was pretty sure he wouldn't have told his Dad yet so she might be able to find out where he was through his old man. Not that she knew how to contact him and had no idea where he was living now; Adam didn't talk about it much. To be honest they didn't talk about much.

"What do you want? You can't be here." His voice made her jump. It was cold. "You are in my way. Wanna move?" Adam indicated that she was standing in front of his door.

"Adam, I need to talk to you."

Gently pushing her aside he slid the key into the door lock without saying a word. Hayley reached for his arm and that icy look her gave her yesterday returned and she removed it. Opening the door Hayley took a step forward assuming he was going to let her in but he closed the door behind him leaving her standing outside. "Adam, come on, please."

She got nothing; she banged on the door angrily, yelled at him to open the door, called his phone and waited. Until his neighbour appeared again. "Obviously he doesn't want you here. Do I need to call the cops?"

"I am the cops." Hayley barked at her before slamming her hand against the door one more time and leaving.

This was ridiculous; he was behaving like a petulant child. They needed to talk, if only she could talk to him and get him to understand. She thought it was better for both of them if Brennan didn't know about their relationship not realising that Adam had already admitted to it. She didn't know about Cole when Brennan trapped her, and she had been played and surely he could understand how devious that woman was. They all knew it. She needed to explain this to him but he wasn't listening. He was being a stubborn assed idiot as usual.

Intelligence would clear him of the murder, without a doubt. She knew he had nothing to do with it, obviously because he was with her that night but also because she did know that wasn't Adam. Sure he was a hothead but his heart was in the right place. She didn't give him a lot of credit, but then again she barely scratched the surface. She didn't want to look too deep into him because this was just some fun. She liked sex and was quite capable to keeping the two things separate. Sex was just sex, she didn't need any emotion to go with it.

Now it had all gone to shit.

Fronting up to Voight at the district the next day didn't fill her with joy, she didn't need to see everyone else yet so she organised to meet him in a café away from the district. "Hey Boss." Hayley was waiting for him, she was on her second cup of coffee already and she wasn't sure if it was the coffee or the nerves that were making her jumpy.

"Upton." Voight nodded at the waitress when she offered him a cup of coffee. "What can I do for you?"

"How's Ruzek?"

"Still suspended. We are working on it."

"He didn't do it. You know that right?"

"I do, that's not who Ruzek is. I don't need your alibi to tell me that. Sure he's a bit of a wildfire sometimes but when you know someone, you know someone. He's one of the good ones."

"I know. I've told Brennan."

"I know that too. The thing is Upton she now thinks you are just covering for him because that's what Intelligence do and because you are sleeping with him. Particularly since you defied a direct order and tried to contact him, how do you think that looks? So now we've got until the end of the day to figure out who did it otherwise IA is taking over and Ruzek will be charged. So this just doesn't affect Ruzek, it's affected all of us."

Voight sat back and folded his arms across his chest.

"Boss. I don't want to leave Intelligence." Hayley was desperate. "I can help clear Adam's name. I'm a good cop."

"Well there might not be an Intelligence unit tomorrow thanks to you and Ruzek."

"I was trying to protect him."

"No you were protecting yourself. This is why I don't want relationships in my unit, every single time it blows up."

"I would never let that get in the way of me doing my job."

"Thing is Upton, you already did." Voight drained the last of his coffee and threw some bills on the table to cover both coffees. "I'll let you know when you can come back."

Hayley slumped back in her chair.

Going to see Brennan hadn't worked like she thought it would. The Commander was not impressed to see her. She said nothing while Upton tried to explain why she said what she did and that Ruzek was with her and couldn't have committed the murder. Brennan thanked her and showed her the door. "What's going to happen now? Ruzek's in the clear right?"

"Thank you Detective Upton." For the second time in two days a door closed in her face.

Hayley tried one more time to see Adam, she again waited for him outside his apartment but this time didn't knock she just waited until he either left or came home. "Hi." He finally moved aside and Hayley took a step inside but he stayed by the open door and just shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked slightly.

"What are you doing here again?"

"I need to talk to you and considering you aren't answering your bloody phone what choice did I have?" Stepping forward she reached for his arm and Adam shrugged away from her. "Adam, let's talk about this."

"Nothing to talk about."

"I think there is. I was trying to protect you, I had no idea about Cole and that's what she was asking about. I thought it was about our relationship. I didn't want you getting bumped…" Hayley stopped when she saw the look on his face. "…I didn't want either of us to get into trouble. You know we shouldn't have been together. I'm a Detective, you are my junior."

Adam rocked on his heels. "You can't be here, I'm not allowed to talk to anyone.." he pointed out the door but she didn't move. "…so if you could leave before my ass is further on the slab that would be great."

"So that's it." she exploded. "You won't even talk about it. What was I supposed to say?"

"The truth Hayley. How about the truth?" If her voice was angry he was calm. She wasn't going to accuse him again of having a temper or throwing it back on him. They'd already been there. Apparently it was one of his many character faults so she had told him. He was pretty sure her list of his faults was longer than his list of good points.

"It's not that easy and you know it."

"I thought you didn't do yelling and screaming?" His sarcasm wasn't appreciated and she wanted to slap him.

"Don't." She held up her hand angrily. "You've got no idea what it is like to grow up like that?"

"No I don't, just like you don't know what I went through as a kid because you never asked or cared." He'd had enough. "Look, I need to leave so…." Adam he indicated she could leave.

"I could lose my job because of you." She screamed at him.

"No Hayley, you haven't lost your job, at worst you would move onto another Unit. Remember you lied to save your own ass but I could lose my job because of you, like my badge. This is on my record; did you know that? This could be on my record that my badge got pulled because of a lie you told. IA thinks you are just covering up, they don't give a fuck about the truth because IA have always had us in their sights and looking for any reason to shut us down. So we fucked up by fucking around but of course you are only concerned about your job. I'm worried I've fucked up this up for Burgess, Atwater, Halstead and Dawson. But it's always all about you isn't it? Always has been."

"It's not always about me, I've saved your ass before. That day you punched that guy; I covered for you. Told them you were defending yourself." Hayley was desperate. Back then she'd only been in Intelligence a few months and still finding her place.

"No you saved your job. It is obvious however that the only person you've got any interest in is yourself. I know you weren't all in, fuck I doubt some days you gave two shits about me but at least I was honest from the start. I gave you an out, several times but you didn't want that. What did you want from me? What do you want?" He tapped his temple with his finger. "You want everything on your terms, you don't give a flying fuck about anyone else's feelings?"

"That's not fair, you knew where we stood. I made it perfectly clear."

"You certainly did. It's all about you." He did not raise his voice once. He'd done that before, he'd lost his temper at gone off at Burgess and Roman and it got him nowhere, in fact all it did was push her further away. He wasn't doing that again not that he wanted to go anywhere further with this, it had been a mistake from the start and right now he hated himself for being so weak and pathetic. "Look you do you, just leave me out of it from now on okay?" He looked at her sadly. The thing is he liked her; he respected her need to keep things close to her chest, in truth because he was enjoying the benefits of a good screw, and she was a good screw. Trust though? It was always just a little off, he couldn't put his finger on it at the time and in the past two days it had hit him fair and square in the face.

His mouth twitched a little when she threw her hands in the air and stormed out. Quietly he closed the door behind her despite his whole body wanting to slam it. He'd get angry at some point, but now was not the time.

 _ **Note: A question to the anonymous 'guest' reviewer who apparently 'doesn't read my stories anymore' and then goes on to list all the reason why this story is crap, my attitude sucks blah blah blah. How do you know everything is wrong with a fictional story about fictional people if you didn't read it? Now that you no longer read it, could you also stop sending me your hysterical whinges too? That'd be grand. To get so bent out of shape over a fictional story about fictional people on a fan fiction site isn't healthy and quite frankly more than a little bit sad.**_


	4. The Good Fight

Voight was staring at the whiteboard. The lack of progress was frustrating and being told that they had to the end of the day was not helping. They were a long was from figuring this one out. The witness was now claiming she is too traumatised to talk and got herself admitted to hospital.

"Hey Boss." Halstead arrived first; he stood next to his boss, coffee in hand and stared at the board as well. "What you think?"

"I know Ruzek didn't do this. I just don't know who did." Brennan had told him that unless they could make an arrest she would be charging Ruzek. Even though she knew it was all bullshit she was going to take down this Unit one way or another, brick by brick, cop by cop if she had too. It bought up memories he was desperately trying to suppress. He'd already lost one cop to a beat up charge. There was always someone who was willing to look the other way as far as he was concerned. Truth didn't matter, getting him did.

"We'll work it out. We are a man down though."

"Two."

"Ah, I tried calling Upton." Jay had called her several times and got no answer, he went to see her but she wasn't home. Nothing was making sense although he was smart enough to realise that this was spiralling out of control faster than they could imagine. Didn't it always?

"Upton is not involved in this case and I would appreciate it if you kept it in house, and at this moment she is not in the house." Voight glared at him. "Got it?"

"Sure, can I ask why?

"I don't need people one this case who can't follow orders and only worry about saving their own asses. Don't fuck with my city, don't fuck with me." He had enough; he was tired of saving this team from themselves.

"Boss." Halstead felt the need to defend Hayley. He didn't know from what though or why.

Voight was having none of it though. "Do you job Jay, just do your fucking job."

It was frustrating for all of them; here they were again. All this unit seemed to do lately was save each other from whatever shit they got buried in. Halstead longed for the days were they just saved innocent people from the shit side of Chicago society. It was getting tiring always having to protect each other from their own stupidity. At some point it was going to blow up in their faces and each time it happened that day was getting closer. "I am doing my job, with half a bloody story."

"Ruzek had an alibi on the night of Cole's murder, that's all you needed to know." Voight had tried to keep it out of the narrative for as long as possible. This case was personal enough; he didn't need to have his remaining team screwing this up because they took it personally.

"Great so what's the problem." He didn't see the problem with it. "And then at least we can get Ruzek cleared."

"His girlfriend initially denied him being with him that night."

"Why?"

"I don't know why Jay." Voight spat out. "Brennan no longer believes his alibi, she thinks she is covering for Ruzek to save his ass. She contacted him after being specifically told not too and Brennan knows this."

"Why did she lie to begin with?"

"Perhaps you can ask Upton why she does anything."

Kim stopped dead in her tracks and they both heard the gasp. Both Voight and Halstead turned around and Kim had gone as white as a sheet. The whole conversation hung in the air and for the briefest moment Burgess let the revelation sink in before shaking it off. "So, where are we at?"

"Well thanks to Ruzek not being able to keep it in his pants and Upton wanting to keep it a dirty little secret Brennan now thinks this is another bloody cover up. She's gunning for us, she has been for months and people here are stupid enough to think they can do whatever they god damn please."

Voight had been far from impressed when he got called into the Ivory Tower. Brennan wasn't stupid; she got him on the back foot, in her office. For a moment he considered not going, telling her to shove it but that wouldn't get him anywhere fast, he had to know what cards she was holding. "So, I see your team is up to it's usual tricks?" She literally threw a phone at him, Ruzek's phone. "Barely three hours after telling you that Ruzek was not to be contacted his _girlfriend_ is calling him, texting him. No doubt to get the stories straight."

His blood boiled.

Brennan was in his face; he could feel the heat radiating off her she was that close. "You have no control over them do you? Now you are getting one of your Detectives to cover for another one of your out of control officers. When does it end?"

"I did not get anyone to cover for anybody. Ruzek didn't do this?" Voight seethed. He was angrier with Upton than Brennan right now but she wasn't winning him over either. "No matter what you think of me, my team are not murderers."

"But they are liars. You've got 24hours and then I am charging Ruzek, he'll be up before IA and I will have his badge. He's the first."

He stalked from his office and meeting up with Upton this morning and watching her still try and save her own ass had pissed him off even more.

Atwater stood behind Kim and felt her sway a little. She may have said all the right things, they were over, better off as friends and it was time they both moved on but the realisation that he had done exactly what she told him to do was a bitter pill to swallow. He steadied her with a quick squeeze of her hand and headed towards his desk. Voight was right, they had a job to do, they needed to clear Ruzek's name and then he needed to kick his ass.

"Is this going to be a problem for you Burgess? If it is you may as well go home too." Voight wasn't pulling any punches today. They needed to get this done and he didn't need a jilted ex heeding their progress.

Kim lifted her shoulders, squared them off and responded. "No problem Boss. Adam needs us to solve this so lets solve it."

It wasn't easy to push it aside but it had to be done.

"You Burgess, you okay?" Kev waited until they were safely in the car, heading out to take another pass at the witness. They were running out of options and they had begged Voight to let them try one more thing. At this stage he was willing to give anything a go.

"Sure Kev."

"About everything?"

"Kev, Adam is free to date whoever he wants. It's all water under the bridge. Adam and I were over a long time ago, we both needed to move on." Her mouth was saying one thing and her eyes were saying something else but Atwater didn't push it.

"Yeah but Upton?"

"It's his choice." She shrugged. "And I'd be a hypocrite wouldn't I? I mean I had that whole Roman debacle and he sucked it up, so…" Atwater couldn't argue with that but by god he was going to kick his buddy's ass when he got the chance.

"Didn't think she actually liked him? She always looked liked she'd sucked a lemon when he was around." Kev muttered under his breath. Nothing made sense about any of this. What they were doing even doing together?

"Can we talk about something else?" Kim sighed. "Like how we are going to play this."

"Burgess?"

"It hurts okay?" She spat out. "It hurts but what's done is done."

"Kim…"

"Really Kevin, fucking drop it." She did not want to talk about it, she needed time to digest it all and having Atwater in her ear about it wasn't helping. Despite Adam repeatedly asking her to give it another go she had dug her heels in and refused to entertain it, she needed to focus on her career and Adam would always be a distraction and on the add occasion they had indulged in that distraction. Not for a while now obviously and she thought it was probably for the best, now she wasn't so sure.

When they arrived at the hospital they were surprised to see the witness had a visitor. Kev circled back out of view. He followed the visitor, a tall blond with tattoos on his neck, out to the parking lot and left Kim to take a pass at the witness. He just oozed scumbag; even the way he walked made him look like he was up to shit.

"I told you I can't remember." She wailed, a little too dramatically.

"Okay. Okay." Kim touched her arm tenderly. "I really get that, but we do have another witness who has given us some descriptions. Can I just show you a few photos? She if anything looks familiar. The smallest thing can help."

"I don't know." Her eyes shot towards the door.

"If he knows you saw him and we don't put him away you think you'll be safe? We can't protect you." Kim laid it on thick. "You give us something to work with and I promise you I will keep you safe, from everyone. Being a black cop in Chicago is tough, a lot of people owe him." Kim wasn't sure if she'd gone to far and gave her best shocked look. She needed her to think she'd said too much. "I mean… sorry. Can you please just take a look?" Waiting for her to take the bait was excruciating. They had one shot at this; if this didn't work they had no idea what they'd do next.

When she nodded, after glancing at the door again Kim showed her a photo array on her phone. "Umm that one I think." She pointed to the third photo.

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"Perfect."

"Did I get it right?"

"You did well." Kim patted her arm again. "Just let me call my partner and I'll be right back."

Kim stepped from the room and texted Kev. _'Got her. Number 3'_ He would know precisely what she meant.

"Hey Bro, wait up." Kev jogged over towards the visitor who was picking his way through the parking lot. "Bro, wait up." He called again when he didn't stop. "Bro, stop. Chicago PD."

With that the visitor took off and Kev was on his tail and caught up with him eventually. He was blowing hard, the guy moved quickly but Atwater was fuelled by a fierce determination. His buddy wasn't going down for this. "You've got some explaining to do."

"Fuck you." He spat at Atwater who just managed to avoid the gobful. What was it with guys, and girls for that matter that when they were caught they thought the best way to make things easy for them were to spit? It just pissed them off more, not less.

"No, fuck you. Your girlfriend has just dropped you in it."

"In what? She's a dumb bitch, she'll do what she's told, and if she knows what's good for her."

"You sure, she says you were more than happy to pop Marcus Cole because he was dipping his wick." Kevin was just making shit up. They had only worked things out so far and the rest they had to make up on the fly. He trusted Burgess to do her bit.

"Yeah right."

"And she put you at the murder scene."

"Dumb bitch, all she had to do was keep her mouth shut. I was just cleaning up her mess. Fucking a guy who was snitching to you assholes." He snarled. "He had it coming."

Kevin snapped the cuffs on and pushed him face first into the bonnet of the nearest car. "Hey Bro, she did keep her mouth shut. Pity you didn't."

He called Burgess and told her that he had his guy and she went back in to see the witness. Leandra wasn't the brightest crayon in the box and had no idea she'd been played. "So, what now?"

"Now? Now you'll be charged with giving a false statement. You didn't see jack shit did you? You weren't there at all? What happened, you found a business card, your boyfriend snitched so you called your dealer?"

"No."

"He must have been pissed so he came over, killed Marcus Cole and then what? You stood and watched your dealer knock him off and then concocted your story. Pity it had more holes in it than Swiss cheese. The guy you fingered for it wasn't even anywhere near Cole, he hadn't been in touch with him for weeks. He was alibied out."

"So? You could have lied, covered up?"

Kim showed her the photo array. "Thing is Leandra there is no other witness, except your neighbour who puts you at the house in the hours before you called it in and the guy you accused…" she tapped the photo she had picked…."he isn't even black."

"It was dark."

"Your dealer has just spilled his guts all over the parking lot. He's telling my partner that it was you, he's covering his ass and willing to drop you in it."

"I didn't do it, I couldn't. Murray was so angry, Marcus was going to snitch on him."

Hayley approached the locker room with trepidation when Kim packed up for the day. It had been awkward coming back to work; they certainly hadn't welcomed her with open arms. Voight had called her late yesterday and told her that they had charged Murray Klein and Leandra Chapman with the murder of Marcus Cole and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

"And Adam?"

"In the clear. He's still got his badge."

It was business as usual but it felt weird. Everyone just got on with the next job. They had nothing on the board so it was just catching up with paperwork and chasing CI's, keeping them on the chain. "You and Atwater did well."

"Just doing our jobs." She didn't stop what she was doing and didn't even really look at Hayley.

"I know it must have been hard for you."

"Not really." Kim shrugged. "It was Ruzek."

"Kim. Thank you."

"I didn't do it for you."

"I know. I'm sorry." And she genuinely was. Things had got out of hand quickly and in ways she never imagined. It would have been easier to run away but she was stronger than that, she didn't run away from her mistakes. "Have you talked to Adam?"

"No."

"Kim, please. I need to know he's okay?" Hayley took a step closer. She was desperate to know that Adam was okay and so far she'd heard nothing.

"I told you I haven't talked to him. Do you think I am lying?"

"No, not at all. I just know that if he was going to talk to anyone it would be you or Kev." While they hadn't spent a lot of time with anyone else lately she did know that Kev and Adam had been close and that he was also close to Burgess despite the end of their engagement. She did admire both of them for that. She'd never been able to maintain a friendship with an ex. "I know now is not the time but I hope we can still be friends."

"Friends?" It took everything Kim had not to openly laugh. "I don't think you and I were ever really friends, we are work colleagues. Going out for dinner once doesn't make us friends. I think it's best if we just stay the way we are don't you? I can live with that."

"Does that include Adam too?"

"I'm sorry. I'm not having this discussion with you. I have Kevin is waiting for me." Kim grabbed her bag and slammed her locker door shut. "See you tomorrow."

The ramifications didn't end there. Coming into work the next day certainly reminded them all that things can change in the blink of an eye and one wrong move could send you down a path that you didn't expect.

Hayley was already at her desk. She felt the best way to prove herself was to put in the hard yards, be first in, last out and earn back the respect of her colleagues and perhaps even set herself on the road to making real friends. Holding yourself to the side didn't stop you from getting hurt. Sitting alone in her apartment last night drove that home. She got no messages; nobody checked in on her, nobody answered her calls. She never heard from Adam even though she left him a message apologising and that she was happy that the truth came out in the end.

"Hi." They were all surprised when Platt appeared at the top of the stairs standing next to a slightly older man, not quite Voight's age but maybe a little older than Antonio. Voight came out of his office and shook the man's hand.

"Welcome to Intelligence." He swung around. "This is Detective Harrison Brentwood. He'll be joining us."

"Boss?" Upton stood up quickly. She looked at both Atwater and Burgess and they looked equally as shocked.

"Detective Brentwood is Ruzek's replacement. He'll be partnered up with Burgess." He waved his hand from Jay to Kevin. "Halstead and Atwater and Upton and Dawson from now on."

"What do you mean Ruzek's replacement? He was cleared."

"He was." Voight nodded. "He asked for some time off, the Ivory Tower agreed." He waved at Ruzek's desk. "Jay, get him up to speed."

 _ **Atwater and Burgess saving their best friends ass, that's the story we deserved.**_


	5. Tail Lights

Kim rested her head on her steering wheel for just a moment. It was spinning. It was hard to organise her thoughts considering what had gone on in the past few days. What she did know was that everything had changed and she had no idea what to do about it or how to feel. The fact that he had taken off again without a word told her that she needed to stop caring but that was easier said than done.

Going to his place, it was empty again. This time though it felt more permanent and that didn't feel good at all. It made her sick to the stomach.

It wasn't until she stepped out of her car that she noticed himleaning on the bonnet of her car.

"Adam?"

"Hi."

"What are you doing here?" Kim didn't want him to be anywhere else. She was confused at how all this had made her feel because she liked that he was here of all places when maybe she thought he'd be somewhere else, talking to someone else. She thought she had put Adam in her past, as far as their romantic relationship anyway but perhaps that wasn't quite the truth. "I thought you'd gone…."

"No." Adam swiftly cut her off. "I was waiting for you."

"Why?"

"I wanted to say goodbye, I left last time without saying goodbye and I shouldn't have. That was a shit thing to do."

"What are you doing Adam?"

"Hopefully something I am good at." He sighed. He'd done a lot of soul searching in the past and always fell back into hold habits. Actions had consequences, his actions had consequences and it was no good blaming everyone else and burying his head in the sand any longer. "Not good at anything else."

"Well that's a lie."

"Is it?"

"Drop the whole woe is me attitude, okay?"

He had gone to see Voight late last night, once he knew the bullpen would be empty. "Fine mess you got yourself in to." He pulled open his bottom drawer and pulled out two glasses and a bottle of bourbon. Pouring two glasses he slid one across the desk towards his officer.

Adam picked up the glass and studied its contents for a moment. "Sure, although I actually didn't do anything did I?" He didn't need to be criticized for something he didn't have any control over. He had done nothing wrong, he hadn't lied, he had ticked all the boxes with his CI, and all he had done was try and move on and put his past behind him.

"No, except fish from the company pier."

"No rules against that. My problem was I trusted someone who doesn't feel the same." He knocked back the bourbon in one mouthful. "I'm sorry I put us under the microscope again."

"I know. It has to end though."

"What Upton and I? It's as dead as Marcus Cole." Adam shook his head. "She's a good cop, but she wasn't good for me."

"And what about Burgess?"

"She deserves better than me." Ruzek slid the glass back across the desk and stood up. He held out his hand to his boss. "I've asked for furlough, for a year. Ivory Tower agreed."

Voight was disappointed. He didn't want to lose him but wasn't going to talk him out of it. If his heart and his head weren't in it he didn't need him on his team. Not right now. "You give me a call in a year's time. There is always a spot for you here. You belong here." Voight shook his hand. "Intelligence is your family."

Adam waited just a moment and then nodded. "Thanks Boss."

It may have been rash but it was the right thing to do, he felt like he had no choice. The only other thing he wanted to do was talk to Burgess. He'd walked away from her too many times and he had told Voight she deserved better and he honestly believed it.

"Don't you get it? Haven't you figured it out?" Unleashing all his pent up frustrations was a relief. It felt good to let it all go, probably with the only person who could handle it and wouldn't judge him. It wouldn't change a damn thing; he was still leaving but this time he wasn't slinking away. "The problem here is me, I fucked everything up, I fucked us up, I fucked Al up, that's all I do." It wasn't anger, Kim didn't get that he was angry but she did hear the pain inside him.

"How did you fuck up Al?"

"Doesn't matter now does it? He's dead." He looked at the ground sadly. "I could have stopped it but I didn't I tried to fix it and it all went to shit anyway. That whole mess is my fault."

Kim stepped forward but the look on Adam's face stopped her from getting too close. "I don't understand, make me understand."

"I can't."

"You know that chain of events was set in place when Justin was murdered. You know this." Everyone knew the reason Al was in jail. But things were done back then that couldn't be changed now. Truth be told that brutal ending had been decades in the making.

Adam didn't even seem to hear her. "And you, I fucked you over back then, I didn't fight for you, I let you go and now this mess." Waving his arms around angrily, he couldn't even say her name right now. It had been a mistake, not quite the biggest mistake of his life but it was up there. The biggest mistake of his life was standing in front of him.

"Adam."

"Anyway, doesn't matter now." He waved her away. "The best thing I can do is leave, try and figure myself out before I fuck up anything else."

"You can't run away."

"Don't you get it? I'm the problem." He slapped his chest angrily. "I go away, the problem goes away."

Kim's voice waivered, she shook her hands trying to stop herself from crying. She didn't want to say goodbye. "I don't want you to go."

"Trust me, I need to do this."

"Where are you going?"

"I don't know."

"Adam, please. Just stay and we can work it out. I'll help you." Suddenly she couldn't imagine a world without Adam in it. It seemed cruel. All those years when people told you that you don't know what you've got until it's gone she never believed it, people come and go from your life and that was all part of it. There was a reason everyone crossed your path, some for a short time and others were meant to stay for longer but they were all their for a reason. Right now the thought of losing Adam completely was crushing, more so than when she broke off their engagement, perhaps because he was always still just there and part of her knew he always would be. "Whatever is going on we can get through it, you are better here with us. Stay please."

He took a few steps towards her and rested a hand on her cheek, running his thumb back and forth for a moment as Kim closed her eyes and waited to feel his lips on hers but instead he kissed her forehead. "I think I will always love you." His breath was warm against her skin; it was comforting and familiar as he rested it there for a moment trying to memorise her one last time.

"Adam, don't go."

Tears spilled down her cheeks as he moved his head slightly and whispered in her ear.

All she could do was nod.

As the taillights of his car finally disappeared she stood for a moment longer, squinting into the dark waiting for them to come back. They didn't and he was gone and the hole in her world was enormous.

She'd see him again, of that she had no doubt she just wish she knew when.

 _ **Just a short work of FICTION. Hope you enjoyed it, not sure you loved the ending but...**_


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